Ffangs the vampire bat and the kiss of truth

by Ted Hughes, Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

A blood-fearing vampire who wants to be human encounters Thomas Squarq the Vampire Hunter at Buckingham Palace.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Edward James Hughes was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death. In 2008, The Times ranked Hughes fourth on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
He married fellow poet Sylvia Plath in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England, in a tumultuous relationship. They had two children before separating in 1962 and Plath ended her own life in 1963.

Reviews

[Miss Jools]

This is an absolutely batshit crazy book - utterly, utterly insane.

Like a drug induced manic nightmare of complete nonsense. Just wtaf…

Cannot imagine actual kids reading this.

Illustrations by Chris Riddell are great though!

[Eclectic Indulgence]

If only I could rate it a zero. At least I enjoyed the illustrations... but the ‘story’ is a waste of time.

[Katie Holder]

This book was so weird. A very quick read but surprisingly hard to follow for such a short plot.

[Judy]

I snapped this up as soon as I saw it on the bookshop shelves. Great combination - Ted Hughes and Chris Riddell, and a really interesting cover with the leery yellow, black and white, spot varnish and embossed title. The lettering all at the bottom of the design, the bat faces hanging above. I flipped it open and was disappointed at the quality of the paper stock, but thought, it'll be great nevertheless.

Unfortunately, much as I wanted to love it, the cover was the only thing I liked. Even Chris Riddell's drawings which I usually love, I did not love in this. Grotesque (which I often enjoy) but many of them without his usual warmth or charm. The paper stock did not do them any favours as they are heavily inked and hatched and the pulpy stock has coarsened the detail badly.

Hughes's writing style here seems self conscious, and lacks intimacy and focus. I found it hard to become engaged with any of the characters. The leading character changed from Attila in the first section to Ffangs in the second section to Thomas in the third section. (Thomas is the enemy in the second section and the hero in the third, which was, admittedly an interesting character progression). No doubt Hughes, whose credentials I can't question, deliberately chose to write in this mannered way. But it did little for me.

This book is marketed as a children's book and was sold in the children's section, but I really can't imagine many kids liking it.

[Nola]

I'm not completely sure if I liked this or if I just thought it was o.k. It is such an odd little book. The first chapter is all about a rooster which was very confusing but eventually the rooster meets the vampire and things start to make more sense because the blurb and title now match with what is going on in the story, but the story itself still doesn't make sense!

[N Young]

Silly but fun.